0210 North Moor Farm, Halsall

The built form is intended to read as a collection of low-rise, traditionally scaled rural buildings, with pitched roofs. Four dwellings are arranged around a shared-surface courtyard, a fifth dwelling sits adjacent to an existing row of terraced houses at the western end of the site.

Due to the project’s Green Belt location, the scheme volume was critical to the design solution and every permissible cubic metre has been utilised to maximise the useable internal living space. Each dwelling comprises open plan living space, ancillary accommodation and five bedrooms.

The scale of the courtyard houses is mediated by breaking down each dwelling into a ‘living’ and ‘ancillary’ volume. A glazed link connects each volume, which forms a focal point and the entrance into each house.

Contemporary detailing combined with a carefully considered materials palette of multi-buff brick, blue/black brick and dark grey zinc roofs ensures a crisp yet vernacular aesthetic, and the cobbled single surface courtyard serves to provide parking and a play space for children, whilst aesthetically tying the dwellings together.